Iced beverage dispensers have long been used to dispense a cold, frozen or slushy beverage into consumer's cups. They are typically found in self-service applications, such convenience stores, and in full-service applications, such as restaurants. Such iced beverage dispensers typically include a bowl for storing a quantity of mixed beverage, where the bowl has an upper lip to which is attached a cover, which is often illuminated and illustrated to serve a merchandising function. The iced beverage dispenser is provided with a beverage dispensing valve for drawing the beverage into a customer's cup. An auger typically maintains the beverage within the bowl in a mixed homogenous state. Particularly in the case of frozen or slushy beverages, the auger is often combined with a cooling element, such as an evaporator coil, connected to a mechanical refrigeration system to withdraw heat from the beverage and obtain and maintain its cold temperature.
In the usual operation of such iced beverage dispensers, the unit has been manually cleaned from its previous use. A measured quantity of dry beverage powder is added to a separate container, diluted with water and mixed according to the manufacturer's directions in the separate container. Once mixed, the typically 1 to 3 gallons of beverage is poured over the upper lip and into the bowl. The mechanical refrigeration system of the machine is then engaged and the beverage begins to chill. Once at the desired temperature, the beverage behavior changes from liquid to granular in flowability and mixability. For iced or slushy drinks, where the desired temperature is 28.degree. F., this process can take over 40 minutes. It is therefore important that the mixing and chilling operations occur significantly before the first beverage draw is expected.
As beverage is drawn from the bowl through the dispensing valve, the level of the beverage in bowl drops. When the level drops to a predetermined level, the employee attending the beverage dispenser must pour in another 1 to 2 gallons of beverage premixed as described above. While generally satisfactory in maintaining the mass of available beverage at sufficient levels, such practices require a 40 minute wait before the beverage is properly chilled and causes lack of available beverage, particularly during peak demand times, such as during the lunch hours, where employee attention is directed elsewhere. Lack of beverage directly results in lost sales and revenue. Although this waiting time could be reduced by adding less premixed beverage more frequently, it is often impractical for employees to do so, particularly in self-service applications.
There have been efforts to overcome these difficulties. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,664 to Cleland discloses an attachment unit for engaging an open supply tank of a beverage dispenser. The unit teaches mixing together quantities of powdered beverage concentrate and water for delivery to the tank when the tank level lowers to a predetermined low level and until the level rises to a predetermined high level. To mix the concentrate and water, Cleland teaches use of a mixing chamber defined by a conical funnel into which a water discharge tube is tangentially disposed at an upper end portion to cause vortex flow in the chamber.
While generally satisfactory for beverage powder mix containing primarily sugars and flavorings that mix immediately, such as fruit drinks, the mixing chamber taught by Cleland does not satisfactory mix all powder beverage mixes, particularly those powder beverage mixes containing high concentrations of fatty solids, such as cappuccino and hot cocoa mixes. This drawback becomes especially pronounced where cold water only must be mixed with powder beverage mixes containing fatty solids. Cold water is used due to the desirability of cooling the mixture to below-freezing temperatures as soon as possible. The effect is very poor mixing and agglomerations of powder mix floating in the water. As the components remain unmixed even after passing to the bowl, the result is obviously unsatisfactory. Not only is the newly added powder beverage mix and liquid not mixed, effecting the taste of the beverage, the appearance of apparent debris floating on top of the preexisting beverage in the bowl is visually and aesthetically unappealing, resulting in lost sales and revenue.
Possibly more serious is the risk of physical damage to the auger and evaporator in the bowl if the beverage mix and liquid is not substantially completely mixed. This is due to the fact that substantially mixing the beverage mix containing relatively high concentrations of fatty solids with water lowers the freezing point of the water. Lowering the freezing point in turn prevents the water from prematurely freezing into ice particles large enough to jam or otherwise interfere with the operation of the auger, which tends to be damaged by such interference. Where the beverage mix and water are substantially completely mixed, this problem is avoided, as only relatively small particles of ice can form, particles that are relatively harmless to the machine.
To overcome these drawbacks associated with high fat content powder mixes, recent efforts have focused on using so-called "bag in the box" systems. Such systems generally include a mixing chamber as used by Cleland, consisting generally of a conical cup into which a water stream enters tangentially. A liquid, such as tap water, is mixed with a liquid beverage concentrate or syrup supplied from the manufacturer in a plastic or mylar bag enclosed within a cardboard box. Since the beverage "mix" is already in the liquid state, the problem of poor mixing and agglomeration is overcome. However, such systems require elaborate and expensive supply systems to pump or extract the liquid beverage concentrate from the bag and deliver it to the mixing apparatus.
Moreover, it is not uncommon that the sanitary seal of the bag is compromised during connection to the supply systems, resulting in spilling and contamination of the contains of the bag. If proper pH levels are not maintained in a liquid product, E-coli and other bacteria begin to form. Also, once opened, the entire contents of the bag must remain connected to the supply system and beverage dispenser. One or more containers of the "bag in the box" systems also often rupture during shipping, resulting in contamination of virtually an entire skid of such products. Powder mix does not share these drawbacks, and coupled with its significantly cheaper cost per unit of mixed beverage, it would be advantageous to improve and broaden the use of powder mixes.
There have also been long standing problems with cleaning the bowls of iced beverage dispensers after use. The current recommended practice of manufacturers is that the beverage dispenser be cleaned every evening. The refrigeration systems are turned off and the beverage is drained from the bowl. Optionally, hot water is used to fill the bowl to melt off any sugar deposits and is then drained. The bowl auger is removed and the bowl is removed from the machine. Each piece, both removed and remaining in place, is then thoroughly washed with warm water and a mild dishwashing detergent and rinsed. The machine is then reassembled.
The most severe problem is the time required to clean such units every day. Also, the disassembly process requires the manipulation of fasteners, increasing the prospects for their loss or misplacement. Finally, repeated disassembly and assembly only increases the chances of damage and breakage to the components, particularly to the plastic bowl, which easily cracks and which if damaged renders the entire unit inoperative.
Accordingly, to provide a solution to these problems, it is desirable that there be a beverage supply apparatus that can readily and automatically supply an iced beverage dispenser with a relatively constant and substantially completely homogeneously mixed and chilled iced beverage having a relatively high fatty solid content in the shortest possible time. It is further desirable that such a supply apparatus be capable of offering a sanitizing function to reduce the frequency of disassembly and reassembly, with their associated drawbacks.
In sum, an apparatus for automatically supplying a substantially mixed homogenous beverage to a beverage dispenser and sanitizing the same was needed.